Norwegian helmer Harald Zwart, who directs Will Smith's son Jaden and Jackie Chan in the upcoming remake of the 1984 classic "Karate Kid", says he had a terrific time working with Aishwarya Rai in "Pink Panther 2" and is keen on teaming up with her again.Zwart, whose direction credits include Hollywood biggies like "Agent Cody Banks" and Michael Douglas starrer "One Night at McCool's", says the actress was always the first choice to play Sonia, a criminology expert, who turns out to be the main villain in the end."I had a great time working with Aishwarya. She is a huge star but at the same time when the cameras are not running she is the nicest person to be around. We had so much fun together. I hope to work with her again," Zwart told in a telephonic interview from Los Angeles."She was our first choice. We always wanted to have someone, who was beautiful, somebody you would never suspect to be bad. We were so happy when she wanted to do the movie," he says, adding he is fascinated by the Indian film industry.Coming to his latest project starring Jaden Smith ("Pursuit of Happyness"), Jackie Chan ("Rush Hour", "The Myth") and Taraji P Henson("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), the director promises an original fair though it is a remake of Sony Picture's much loved 1984 movie of the same name."We have made sure that we respect the original but we wanted to make it original and fresh and I think we have succeeded in that. It is completely different from the first movie although we have references," he says when asked about the comparisons that the film is bound to invite with the earlier movie.
Produced by Jerry Weintraub, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter, and Ken Stovitz, Columbia Pictures' movie hits theatres on June 11 in India and the US.
The new movie shifts action to China and instead of karate, talks about Kung Fu and its history.Jaden plays Dre Parker, a Detroit kid, who is forced to shift base to China because of his mother's career. Dre has a hard time making friends at first but he does make a connection with his classmate Mei Ying but he also makes an enemy in the class bully, Cheng.When Dre is bullied by Cheng, he turns to Mr Han, who not only trains him in Kung Fu but also helps him face the bully and in the process also ends up having a special bond with the child.At 11, Jaden has already proved his acting potential with "Pursuit of Happyness" where he starred with his superstar father but he is playing the lead in this film and a lot is at stake for the young star.
